Lovely Tricks
by JamesLuver
Summary: Ten kisses, two partners. ON HIATUS.
1. Children

**A/N:** As a Team Rocket fangirl at the age of ten, I was obsessed with the thought of Jessie and James getting together, getting married, settling down and having a couple of cute little kids. Now, as a Team Rocket fangirl who is almost eighteen, my views have changed drastically to the point where I _don't_ want them to get married, settle down and have kids (although wanting them to get together has certainly not changed in the slightest!). However, since this first prompt was _children_ and I'm an unoriginal sod, I thought I'd revert back to my old ways just for a short while for the sake of this chapter. This might have been a mistake, but what's done is done.

The title of the series comes from the Ingrid Bergman quote, _A kiss is a lovely trick designed by nature to stop speech when words become superfluous._ N'aww.

**Disclaimer:** I own several annuals, far too many GBA/DS games to count, a couple of keyrings, a couple of necklaces, movies one through six plus the Chronicles and Mewtwo Special...but alas, I am not the creator of _Pokémon_. Sucks to be me.

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><p><em><span>Lovely Tricks<span>_

_1. Children_

It started with an innocent comment from Meowth.

"Say," he said, "what do ya t'ink ya kids'll look like?"

James spat out a mouthful of coffee and stared at the cat as though he'd grown another head. "Kids?" he spluttered, looking horrified at the mere concept.

Jessie looked equally disturbed, a forkful of egg suspended in mid-air.

"Yeah, ya know," Meowth said, "dose little t'ings what walk an' talk like regular sized humans, da ones what like drawin' pictures an' takin' dancin' lessons an' trainin' Pokémon…ya know what dey are yet?"

"There's no need to be sarcastic," Jessie muttered. "Your question just took us by surprise, is all."

"Why?" Meowth frowned. "I t'ought youse'd be t'inkin' 'bout mini-Jessie an' James' by now. Ya don't want ta leave it too long now, do ya?"

James shuddered. "I'd have to be married to have kids of my own…that's not something I relish thinking about!"

Jessie rolled her eyes at her partner's comment, choosing to ignore it. "Why would we be thinking about having kids? We haven't even managed to snag that Pikachu yet! Until we become the best team in Team Rocket, I don't intend to think about things like children!"

Meowth shrugged with a cheeky grin. "No need ta get angry, Jess," he said. "I was just wonderin' if yer plannin' ahead. Dat's always da best t'ing ta do in dese kinds of situations. Den nut'in' can take ya by surprise."

"What kind of situations?" Jessie snapped. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"I'm talkin' 'bout…" Meowth lowered his voice dramatically, "da situation dat yer in now. Ya don't want ta be known as da new _Henry an' Starr situation_, do ya?"

James frowned. "The _what_ situation?"

Jessie, however, was narrowing her eyes in understanding. "I'm warning you, cat, don't even go there."

"Why?" the cat said innocently. "'S'not like youse have anyt'in' ta hide, is it?"

"Would someone just _please_ tell me what the _Henry and Starr_ situation is?" James whined.

He didn't get an answer, however; both Jessie and Meowth seemed only able to hear each other.

"You _know_ I don't have anything to hide," Jessie growled, although the scratch cat could tell from the way her cheeks were colouring delicately that that wasn't necessarily the case.

"So youse have never t'ought about what it would be like ta walk hand-in-hand in da park, ta share ice cream, ta make love under da moon an' da rest o' dat corny stuff? Youse have never t'ought about da two of youse as parents, bearin' his kids?"

Making love under the moon? Bearing children? James couldn't comprehend the conversation at all. "Who the hell are you talking about?"

"None of your business," Jessie snapped at him, shooting him a glare that told him to keep his mouth shut. James heeded it at once, pouting a little. It wasn't fair that both Jessie and Meowth knew who Meowth was talking about! Surely _he_ – Jessie's best friend in the whole world – deserved to know who she sometimes fantasised about making love to?

_You know you'd be happier not knowing_, a treacherous part of his mind told him as he sat there_. Because you'd be jealous._

Meanwhile, Jessie and Meowth were continuing their own conversation.

"I poisonally t'ink dat any kid o' yers would look more like him," Meowth was saying. He was screwing up his face as though he was thinking hard. "He's got very distinctive features, after all."

"So have I!" Jessie remarked indignantly. "My beauty outshines everyone else's!"

"Ah, so youse t'ink dat da kid would look more like youse! What about da eyes, dough?"

"For the last time, Meowth, I have never thought of him in that way! And I can't say I've ever taken notice of his eyes before, either!"

"Don't give me dat! In all dose times when ya gazed into his eyes like a love-struck Growlithe, youse never once t'ought, _man, does eyes are gorgeous!_?"

Sensing that Jessie really was going to explode in a way that she hadn't done for a very long time, James took it upon himself to step in. "Okay Meowth, that's enough. Leave Jessie alone now."

Meowth hopped to the floor with a scathing sound. "Mighta known dat _youse'd _stick up fer her."

The lavender haired man looked confused, but said nothing.

"Well, I'm gonna go use my smarts ta concoct our next evil scheme," Meowth said. "Youse two can stay here."

Silence was left behind.

"So, uh…" James really couldn't think of anything to say as he self-consciously began to clear the table of their unfinished breakfasts. "Meowth can be a real pain sometimes, huh?"

"Understatement of the century," Jessie muttered, still glowering.

More awkward silence. Nothing but the sound of clattering cutlery passed between the duo as they set about tidying the kitchenette.

Finally, however, James could take it no longer. He told himself that he was stupid for wanting to know, that her reply would probably only end up hurting him, but he just _had_ to know.

Because recently, something had changed between them.

He couldn't pin an exact date on when he had started to slowly but surely fall for his best friend in the whole world, but that didn't make it any less true. At first he had not even noticed that his feelings for her were changing, for he was too busy rejoicing in their newfound closeness to really stop and think about anything else. But changed it had, and this had become all too clear about a month ago when Jessie had begun to strip casually in front of him like she had done a thousand times before. Only this time, instead of thinking nothing of it, James had been unable to tear his eyes away from her. A heated blush had made its way across his face as she'd bent down in her bra, exposing her lovely cleavage in all its glory, and he'd excused himself then with a choked sound, both terrified and reluctantly aroused at the feelings she had evoked within him. Since then he had avoided her changing like the devil.

It seemed like he could no longer pretend nothing had changed, however.

"Can I ask what the _Henry and Starr_ situation was now?"

"Do you really have to?" Jessie sighed wearily, rubbing her temples.

"I don't like to be kept in the dark. And Meowth isn't here anymore."

Jessie sighed with the air of someone discussing a subject that really made them feel uncomfortable. "The _Henry and Starr _situation refers to the two Team Rocket agents who started having it off and ended up with more than a little problem, if you catch my drift."

James stared. "As in, they ended up with a kid?"

"Well done, James. It seems that you finally found your brain." Although Jessie's words were harsher than they usually were nowadays, James took them easily, knowing that this particular conversation had struck a raw spot with her. _Why_ was something he didn't know.

"What happened to them?"

"Starr was forced into a Team Rocket office job, doing all of the menial crap out of contempt for her situation. Henry was forced to stay out in the field with a new partner. As far as I know, Starr was allowed to keep her kid but Henry wasn't allowed anywhere near her."

"Wow, that's pretty harsh," James mused sadly. "If I was a father, I'd want to see _my_ kids."

"You would?" Jessie seemed surprised for some reason. "I thought you said that kids meant commitment, which you definitely didn't want?"

"But I'd have a duty to the children," James said, his green eyes piercing hers with their seriousness. "I wouldn't be able to just abandon them."

"If you got a Team Rocket girl pregnant, the Boss wouldn't let you see them."

"I'd find a way around it."

"James, you're terrified of the Boss."

The lavender haired man shrugged. "So? I wouldn't be a very good dad if I couldn't even stand up for them."

Jessie was shocked. Somehow it was difficult to imagine him standing up to the Boss in any way. And yet James was being so mature about the conversation, acting as though he had given the topic some real consideration. Whether she was the Rocket girl in question was something she really didn't want to think about, but it was refreshing to see James actually taking something seriously for once instead of goofing around.

Noticing her expression, James smiled slightly. He could read her train of thoughts, but he wasn't offended.

"Do you _want_ kids?" Jessie asked suddenly, which caught her partner completely off-guard. True, they had been discussing them, but he hadn't been expecting her to blurt something like that out so directly. He thought back to the horror he'd felt the first time that Meowth had brought them up mere minutes ago.

"Well," he said carefully, "the only way I can see myself having kids right now is if I have them with Jessibelle, and she's a mother I would never want to inflict on a child."

Jessie shuddered, vaguely recalling the last time they had met that deranged harpy. "Good point. But what if you fell in love? Would you want kids _then_?"

"Well, that's a whole different matter," said James, feeling decidedly uncomfortable discussing a subject that was getting far too close to the knuckle.

"How so?"

James hoped the flush that he could feel steadily diffusing across his face wasn't too obvious to his female partner. "Well, it would depend on what she wanted, too. If we felt ready, if we were financially able to support a child comfortably…"

"You really _have_ given this some thought, haven't you?" Jessie mused, sounding surprised that her prior thoughts had turned out to be truer than she'd initially thought. "I never thought you'd be mature enough to."

James almost opened his mouth to say that he hadn't ever given it any thought, but something stopped him. Instead he said, "haven't _you?_"

She shrugged a little self-consciously, twirling a strand of her still-unstyled hair around her finger. "Maybe. But I can't very well get pregnant while in Team Rocket."

"So you _do_ want kids."

She looked a little defensive. "I'm not the sort of girl who goes around with her head in the clouds thinking about love and romance and marriage all of the time. If I'm with the right guy and it happens, it happens. I won't be fanatically planning ahead to make sure we have sex at the right time of the month, or eating the right foods to increase my chances, if that's what you mean."

"And…" he kept his eyes trained straight ahead, "have you got the right one in mind?"

A blush of her own spilled over her cheeks. "That's none of your business."

"If you're worried I'm going to tell Meowth…"

"I'm not," she said. "I just don't want to be talking about the right one." Sighing, she pushed her chair away from the table and began to make her way towards the door for another day of attempting to capture Pikachu.

Before she reached the threshold, however, she turned back to contemplate him.

"Have _you_ been thinking about the right one?" she said quizzically.

"No!" James squeaked a little too quickly, feeling himself getting hotter around the collar. Jessie continued to stare at him. Sweat began to accumulate at his temples. He knew he had to say something – _anything_ – to make her believe him. "And I certainly _haven't_ been thinking about having kids with blue eyes and purple hair!"

"Okay…" she said in a tone that suggested that she didn't believe him. Her gaze was more intense than ever before.

James thought she would leave then, giving him time to compose himself before they set off to track down the twerps. Unfortunately for him, she came back towards the table. There was a strange glow in her eyes, as though she was aware of something that she hadn't been told.

Only then did he realise just _what_ he'd let slip.

_And I certainly _haven't_ been thinking about having kids with blue eyes and purple hair!_

Jessie had blue eyes and magenta hair. James himself had lavender hair. Lavender and magenta would naturally make purple…

Jessie had drawn the conclusion that James had concocted in his head.

For a moment, neither of them moved. They hardly dared breathe. All they could do was stare at each other wide-eyed, the spirit of a child that was not yet conceived standing in the space between them.

"You've been thinking about having kids with me." Jessie broke the silence at long-last. It wasn't a question. Her face expression was unreadable.

All he could do was nod; he didn't have a choice.

His nod bared it all: how he'd dreamt of dressing her body in kisses; how he'd imagined the feel of her skin pressed against his own; how he'd idly fantasised about the two of them raising a kid or two between them.

"Hmm." The noise Jessie made did not give an indication of how she was truly feeling. On the positive side, she hadn't started yelling yet. On the negative side, this could merely be the calm before the storm.

"I'm sorry, Jess," he was compelled to say at last when the silence stretched on to an unbearable level. "I really am."

She stepped closer. He winced irrationally; she hadn't hit him in a long time, but he wouldn't be surprised if she hit him now. And he'd deserve it.

She bent closer. James squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for her to begin screaming into his face.

For a few seconds, nothing.

And then he felt her mouth on his own.

James' eyes sprang open. Jessie was _kissing_ him. _Jessie_ was kissing him. It sounded corny even inside his own head, but this was literally a dream come true. His mind was too addled to try and work out just why she was kissing him, but he realised that after a few numb seconds that he wasn't responding to her. This jolted him into action, for he did not want her to think that he wasn't interested. Because he was. Hell, he was.

With that thought in mind, he began to kiss her back, slipping his arms around her waist and tilting his head back to give her even better access. He felt her shiver when his hands came into contact with the bare flesh of her midriff, and he couldn't supress a shudder of his own as he caressed the warm area with gentle fingers. Suddenly he had the answer to the questions that Meowth and Jessie's earlier conversation had brought up: it had been him – _James_ – that Jessie had been thinking about making love to, and thought had _gorgeous eyes_!

Jessie's fingers were meandering through his hair, sifting through it like it was fine gold. Her mouth was warm and wet and so very perfect. He couldn't stop himself from whimpering into her mouth when her fingers brushed against the back of his neck. This was absolute heaven; nothing in the whole world could possibly ruin this moment –

Something squishy hit Jessie in the back and, with a muffled squeak, she pulled away from James. Her partner could only stare at her in a daze, a dopey grin forming on his face. She wanted to mirror his face expression, but settled instead for turning in the direction of the object's flight path.

Meowth was standing in the doorway, a feline smirk plastered across his face.

Jessie's eyes travelled to the object that had hit her.

Her face coloured as she took it in. James, recovering enough to follow Jessie's gaze, blushed an even deeper red.

"What?" Meowth said innocently. "If youse is gonna start practisin' da baby-makin' game, ya need ta be prepared. I'm just makin' sure dat we don't turn inta da next Henry an' Starr."

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><p><strong>AN:** ...It was lame, I know. xD And Henry and Starr are terrible names, but I did not have a clue what to call them. :P

Have pity on me and leave me a review. I get my exam results back tomorrow and may be inconsolable. xD


	2. Opposite

**A/N:** This was inspired by the scene in _Bad to the Bone_ where James is recalling the various disguises that he and Jessie had worn between them. The disguises in general just amused me, but I absolutely loved the particular pose used to showcase the Salon Roquet outfits. It was my desktop background for a good while.

I don't believe that James disliked being the woman. Episodes like _Flower Power_ from early Johto just drive the point home. Humour me just for this chapter. :P In regards to this, I like the concept of this chapter, but mayhaps not the execution.

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><p><em><span>2. Opposite<span>_

James pouted as he tugged despondently at the coarse, golden locks cascading down his face. His scalp felt hot and itchy under the wig, and this did nothing to abate the childish temper tantrum he could feel simmering just below the surface. Squashed into the tiny back room of Salon Roquet, the newest fad in town as crowned by the locals, he was currently making reluctant attempts to fix his disguise reluctantly to perfection. He was interrupted in his task, however, with an elbow to the stomach.

"Oof!"

"Sorry," Jessie grunted, managing to regain her balance before she toppled into him and sent them both sprawling to the floor. She wriggled her foot experimentally to make sure her boot was firmly in place.

James wanted to snap at her, to tell her to watch what she was doing, but wisely kept his mouth shut. Jessie had been in a fabulous mood all day due to their newest money making scheme. James did not want to be the one to end her benevolence. He had to admit it; it was nice going through the day without once being slapped. By this time – barely midday – it was not unusual for him to have been whacked a good dozen times.

"'S'alright," he muttered instead, glowering at his reflection in the dimly lit mirror. If only the bloody wig would just stay in its damned position…

"Here, let me help," he heard Jessie's unexpectedly gentle voice from behind him, and he whirled around to find her invading his already hardly-there personal space.

"Uh…" he said stupidly, but she was not waiting for an answer; instead she reached out and briskly began to pat the unruly golden curls into place. James could only stare blankly somewhere between his partner's chest and neck. She'd donned the navy blue general's outfit with an almost unbridled enthusiasm, and as put-out as he was over the fact that he had to be the bloody woman _again_, he had to admit that Jessie _did_ look very good in that attire. The jacket clung to her irresistibly in all the right places, and the knee high boots accentuated her toned legs perfectly in those beige trousers. The fake sword sheathed at her side finished the look and slid slyly against her side every time she shifted.

She looked…sort of sexy.

He blinked and violently chased the thought away. He made a mental note to smack himself later for Jessie.

"There, all done," the aforementioned woman said brightly, completely oblivious to the inappropriate turn in her friend's thoughts. With a sheer act of will power that he was very proud of himself for, James raised his gaze to meet Jessie's.

"Thanks," he muttered, returning to contemplating his reflection in the mirror. Damn, she'd done it all right. The wig now framed his face beautifully, giving him the beguiling innocence that an angel might be accustomed to, but certainly did not fit a member of Team Rocket. He sighed again, smoothing imaginary creases from the dress whilst Jessie headed towards the door. Noticing that he wasn't following her, she turned back towards him.

"Something wrong?" she asked him casually, fixing the buttons on her jacket for the last time before they made their grand entrance.

For a moment, he weighed up the pros and cons of his next statement. On the one hand he might effectively ruin her good mood, earning himself a good smack for his efforts. On the other hand he could achieve…well, he didn't know what he could achieve, but perhaps he could get his dislike (well…partial dislike – after all, some women's clothes were somewhat beautiful, and he _did_ happen to look rather gorgeous in some of them) across to his partner once and for all. So, grasping his courage in both hands, he began to speak.

"Why do I always have to be the woman?"

For a moment all she could do was blink at him in surprise. Then a slow, lazy grin crawled across her face. Now it was James' turn to stand there blinking dumbly as she approached him once again. Heat permeated from her body and his cheeks began to glow prettily as he realised just how close she was to him. Without breaking eye-contact with him, she sank to her knees in front of him. He was forced to dip his head to follow that intense stare. Golden curls fell becomingly into his face.

"Because," she said, and her voice had taken on a rough, gravelly texture, something he had never heard in his best friend before, "you make such a beautiful woman."

And then she seized his hand in her own, and before he could even register what was happening her mouth was against the back of his hand, warm and wet and perfect. Every nerve ending in James' body seized up and began to tingle deliciously as her lips stayed over the skin. His entire body began to flush pleasantly.

Seconds…minutes…years passed before she finally pulled away from him. She was smirking confidently, her eyes dancing with a mischievous light. James could only stand there motionlessly, his hand still tangled loosely with his partner's. He felt the inexplicable urge to sink to his knees beside her and kiss her sweetly.

The thought took him by surprise and was enough to jerk him out of his partial stupor. Blushing lightly and shivering like he had a fever, he wrenched his hand away from hers. She rose from her knees seemingly unaffected, offering him a cat-like grin.

"You ready to do this now?" she asked, not even waiting for an answer as she made her way over to the door once again. James could vaguely hear Meowth's voice on the other side of the wood, loud and abrasive, ordering them to hurry the hell up. With one last glance over her shoulder, Jessie disappeared from view. He could her hear stiffly telling the scratch cat to hold his Ponyta, they couldn't rush perfection. Their voices faded.

James was still standing motionlessly in the middle of the tiny box room. He was unconsciously holding the hand that Jessie had kissed to his mouth. The feeling of her warm lips was permanently tattooed onto his skin.

_You make such a beautiful woman._

The words rang in his ears like church bells, loud and clear. He couldn't think; those words seduced all thoughts.

_You make such a beautiful woman._

There had been such a wonderful, feverish gleam in her eye as she'd uttered those words, a maniacal glint that he'd never seen before. He wasn't sure if the shiver that had raced down his spin now when he thought back on it was one of terror or excitement.

_Perhaps _my_ sexuality isn't the one that everyone should be pondering,_ James thought incoherently, but before that consideration could manifest itself any further, he heard her voice calling for him.

"James, what are you doing back there? Come on!"

"Coming!" he called back, his voice dazed and hoarse. He thought he might have heard her snigger. Either way, he stumbled after his two comrades, ready to begin their plan of the day.

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><p>They failed, as usual. It ruined Jessie's good mood for good, and everything went back to how it had been before the incident in the back room.<p>

Almost.

James never even thought about complaining about being the woman ever again.

After all, he _did_ make such a beautiful woman.

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><p><strong>AN:** Uh...yeah. Review?


	3. Seize the Day

**A/N:** I thought it was high time that James got his revenge on Jessie after all these years, and his new awesomeness as a Rocket in Unova provided that opportunity. Hopefully I haven't strayed too far from their characters – it's difficult to perceive what they're truly like now when we only get to see them for a couple of minutes every so often. :/

In other news, this chapter was inspired by **Meroni's** artwork, _Last Kiss_. Check it out. It's awesome. The link is on my profile.

Jessie smoking was also inspired by **pokemypoke's** 'fic _Seal it with Cigarettes_. We both agree that we can't ever see Jessie being a smoker but there's something sexy about Jessie lighting up, especially as a Unovian Rocket, haha. Again, I've linked the story on my profile, so you should check it (and the rest of her stuff) out right now because she's a wonderful author with a truly beautiful and captivating way of writing. And if you read, don't forget to review. I know she'd appreciate it. :D

Enough waffling, onto the chapter!

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><p><em><span>3. Seize the Day<span>_

Jessie tapped her foot in a combination of impatience and nervousness as she waited for Meowth's signal. Earlier that day the trio of thieves had reached the town of Accumula and had spent the day skulking out of sight in their rented hotel room. Once the moon had reached its zenith in the sky, they had slipped out of the hotel and made their way towards the outskirts of the town, where their planned heist of the night was to take place. Once they had reached the checkpoint, Meowth had slipped off with the promise of alerting them as soon as he was ready for them. This left the two human members to wait listlessly for the cat to complete stage one of their scheme.

James was currently leaning casually against the wall beside her, looking calm and collected, much to the female Rocket's chagrin. At one time he would either have been a flapping mess or over-confident to the point of arrogant, probably to the extent where she would worry about him messing up an operation of this size. Now, however, he was an infallible force to be reckoned with. Jessie wasn't quite sure how he'd managed to mature so much in the transition between Sinnoh and Unova, but she wasn't going to complain. The subtle shift in their relationship from leader and follower to equals had actually been a welcome one and had allowed other changes to take place, too.

Like the intimacy of their relationship, for one thing. Jessie was glad it was dark, feeling a blush infuse itself into her cheeks as she recalled the first time that their relationship had turned itself upside down. She couldn't even remember how it had happened. All she knew was that she and James had been dancing around it for weeks before it had actually taken place: feathery touches that had lingered seconds longer than they should have done; gazes which clashed and seared hotter than a Charizard's flame. Their newly commended positions in Team Rocket had meant that they were working in even closer quarters, trusting and relying on each other so exquisitely that it wasn't really that surprising that their relationship had shifted the way it had. That first night, it had been _James_ who had come to _her_, the flames of glory dancing in his eyes after their first successful mission. He hadn't even spoken before seizing her mouth in a sweltering kiss and pressing her as close to him as possible. She'd tried to resist at first – tried so damned hard – but, in the end, her will had snapped to the gentle pressure of her partner's lips against her own. Her heart had pounded so hard in her chest that she'd thought it would implode; her head was left reeling as his scent – the musk of sweat and sweet, sweet success – overpowered all other thoughts. They'd quickly moved to the bed after that, and for the first time in a very long time Jessie's body had sung with pleasure so divine that she'd thought that she'd break from the inside out.

Jessie hastily shook her head free of those images. Although it was clear that the two of them had sparked off something unprecedented, they'd agreed that it should just happen as an act of celebration in order to spur them on to do well, strict guidelines to ensure that they didn't get distracted from the job that they had been sent to do…but, well, Jessie wasn't sure that the lines that they'd constructed were so defined any more. That was the problem with relationships, she sighed ruefully; it was all fine whilst things were casual but when the confusion of emotions began to set in, that was when things began to teeter on dangerous territory.

Meowth, wisely, had not had much to say on the matter. It was clear from the way that he would sometimes disappear for a couple of hours at night that he knew exactly what his human companions got up to after a completed mission, but he had never actually brought it up with them. This surprised Jessie somewhat. Meowth had always been a wiseass, someone who would crack jokes at anyone's expense, damn the consequences. She supposed Unova had sobered him as much as it had her and James. Not that she was going to complain about that. It afforded her to only think about where this left the two of them in her own time, without Meowth there to make things awkward between them.

Again, those thoughts were quickly pushed to one side. She did not wish to dwell on it at that moment. The emotions, the meanings…it was just too confusing. Instead she brought the cigarette that she had been dangling at her side to her mouth, inhaling the tobacco gratefully, letting the nicotine diffuse through her brain and calm her nerves. Smoking was another change that Unova had brought her. It wasn't a habit that she was particularly thrilled about picking up (she shuddered at the mere thought of ever sounding like Batch, and the fear that it would ruin her perfect complexion was one that emerged whenever she flared a cig up), but at the same time it was rather comforting. Back at headquarters before their deployment here, Jessie and James had found it far too amusing to resist swiping the packet of fags from Billy's back pocket as he and Cassidy had traded insults with them. The duo had laughed themselves silly imagining the panic that Bob was sure to be in over his missing cigarettes, but eventually Jessie had been unable to resist the curiosity of sampling one. The first time had left her coughing and hacking with watery eyes as James smacked her back and smirked; she'd continued to light them up in the following days just to prove to her partner that she could handle them. She'd already promised herself that she would give them up after their work in Unova was completed.

Well, unless she and James continued on as they were now. They _were_ fabulous for prolonging post-coital highs.

Damn. There she went again, dwelling on their bloody new relationship. She was powerless to prevent it. Instead she finally humoured herself with a sigh, her gaze drifting towards her lavender haired comrade almost as though he was a lightning rod. He was still leaning against the wall, his face unreadable, his stance still relaxed. She guessed that in a weird sort of way she missed how he used to act goofy to dispel any tension, but at the same time she doubted that their relationship would be anything like it was now if he hadn't matured like she had. It was strange to think…but James had finally become a man.

How disconcerting.

A brief, bright flare broke her train of thoughts. Jumping, she turned in the direction that it had come from.

The signal. Meowth was ready for them.

"This is it. Let's go," said Jessie. She took one last drag on her cigarette and made to drop it to the ground.

"Wait."

It was the first time that James had spoken since arriving at their destination, and the sound of his voice made her pause. Forgetting their mission for a moment, she regarded her partner with a quirk of her eyebrow.

"What's the matter?" she asked him.

For a heartbeat, he said nothing. And then he stepped towards her with that same determination sparking in his green eyes, the determination she had witnessed all those nights ago when he'd seduced her that first time, closing the distance between them until there was barely an inch of space between their bodies.

"James?" Jessie began to question him, tipping her head back so that she could maintain eye contact with him, but that was as far as she got before he dipped his head and gently pressed his mouth to hers.

Time froze.

Jessie could only stand there wide-eyed, hands limply by her sides, the cigarette ash drifting slowly to the ground like Christmas snow, mind covered with a blanket of fuzzy cotton. The only thing that she was aware of was the pressure of James' lips on hers.

This was the most unexpected development in their entire crazy journey in Unova so far. As far as they'd both been concerned, kissing had been reserved for their sexual antics, not for random times in the day. She tried not to think about how strangely right this felt, but it couldn't stop her brain from kicking in to react to him. His arms snaked their way around her waist and she closed her eyes, stepping completely into his arms. On their own accord her hands rose to press firmly against his chest, feeling his heart pounding against her palm, proof that, despite his bravado and despite the changes witnessed in him, he was still her James – a little fumbling, a little uncertain but still willing to try. Her spine tingled with anticipation as his fingers began to stroke her bare sides and his tongue rubbed up against hers. All thoughts of the mission were lost in the taste of smoke and mint and the smell of _him_, that tantalising, delicious mix of sweat and soap.

And then it was over as unexpectedly as it had started, leaving James to pull away from her with a small, satisfied smirk. Giving her sides one last stoke he stepped completely away from her, turning in the direction of Meowth's signal.

"We'd better get going," he told her seriously. "We don't want to mess this up."

"Hey, wait just one second!" said Jessie indignantly. She could feel the heat from her cheeks and hoped it wasn't too obvious in the dim lighting. "You can't just kiss me and then act as if nothing happened! What was it even for?"

He was still smirking, somehow managing to frustrate and arouse her at the same time. "It was just in case we die tonight. Apologies, Jessica."

Frowning at the sound of her full name, she dropped her burnt out cigarette to the floor and flattened it with the heel of her boot. "Yeah, well, pull another stunt like that and _you_ might not live to see another day."

"I'll bear that in mind," he said, beginning to walk away with a little too much swagger, leaving Jessie to collect her senses in the wake of his kiss. Shaking her head, she began to follow him, wondering idly if she ought to put him in his place for getting too cocky with her.

She decided against it, and could not stop the tiny smirk from quirking the corner of her mouth in an otherwise unreadable expression.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Hopefully that wasn't too painful. Let me know your thoughts in a review, and Merry Christmas!


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